Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Fa c t s , N o t F i c t i o n : S e t t i n g t h e R e c o r d S t r a i g h t The Asian / Pacific / American Institute at New York University The Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy at New York University National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education The National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE) was formed through a collaboration of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University, the Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy at New York University, and the College Board Through this research report, the Commission seeks to improve U.S education for all students by expanding the way education leaders, federal and state policymakers, and the public understand the complexities, inequities, and strengths of the U.S educational system This report is intended to encourage realistic and actionable discussions about how societal distinctions of race, class, ethnicity, language, and other cultural factors are constituted in the day-to-day operations of American schools We believe that more frank and inclusive dialogues will lead to more effective and equitable policies © 2008 The College Board All rights reserved College Board, Admitted Student Questionnaire, ASQ, EPS, SAT, Student Search Service, SSS, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board connect to college success, Admitted Student Questionnaire PLUS, ASQ PLUS, and Recruitment PLUS are trademarks owned by the College Board PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation All other products and services may be trademarks of their respective owners Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.com National Commission CARE Working Group Julia To Dutka Co-Chair CGFNS International Robert Teranishi Principal Investigator New York University Hon Robert A Underwood Co-Chair President University of Guam John Kuo Wei Tchen Principal Investigator New York University Seon Ah Ahn Korean American Family Service Center Elizabeth R OuYang Policy Consultant New York University Estela Mara Bensimon University of Southern California Helen Zia Writer and Editorial Consultant Sunil Chand College of DuPage Karen Yoshino Senior Consultant Blackboard, Inc Alma R Clayton-Pedersen Association of American Colleges and Universities J D Hokoyama Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc (LEAP) S Mitra Kalita Washington Post Yvonne M Lau DePaul University Hon John Liu New York City Council Member Hon Mee Moua Minnesota State Senator Max Niedzwiecki Consultant Vivien Stewart Asia Society Doua Thor Southeast Asia Resource Action Center Deborah Wei Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, PA CARE Advisory Board Amy Agbayani University of Hawai’i Peter Kiang University of Massachusetts, Boston Sunaina Maira University of California, Davis Don Nakanishi University of California, Los Angeles Laurie Behringer Research Associate New York University Tu Lien Nguyen Technical Associate University of California, Los Angeles Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu Content Editor Cornell University College Board Team Stephen J Handel Project Lead Senior Director of Community College Initiatives and Student Academic Achievement The College Board Selena Cantor Liaison Director, Chinese Language and Culture Initiatives The College Board Alan Heaps Vice President Advocacy The College Board Kim Brown Irvis Designer Art Director for Corporate Projects The College Board Caitlin McClure Designer The College Board Bouy Te National Education Association i Table of Contents Preface v Introduction Fiction 1: Aapi Students Are “Taking Over” U.S Higher Education Fact A: The increasing presence of AAPI students parallels similar increases that other student populations have experienced Fact B: The AAPI student population is concentrated in a small percentage of institutions, giving the false impression of high enrollment in higher education overall Fact C: AAPIs have a wide range of academic interests including the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education as opposed to just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Fiction 2: Aapis Are Concentrated Only in Selective Four-Year Universities Fact A: AAPI students are evenly distributed in two-year and four-year institutions, with the majority attending public institutions Fact B: AAPIs have a wide range of scores on standardized tests, which afford different levels of eligibility and competitiveness in selective admissions Fact C: AAPI enrollment in public two-year community colleges is increasing at a faster rate than their enrollment in four-year colleges Fact D: AAPI community college enrollment is increasing fastest in the Midwest and the South Fiction 3: Aapis Are a Homogenous Racial Group with Uniformity in Educational and Financial Attainment, Culture, Religion, and Histories 15 Fact A: AAPIs are an ethnically diverse population Fact B: AAPI students and their families encompass many different languages and dialects Fact C: Immigration histories have an effect on the needs and assets of different AAPI communities Fact D: Economic, social, and cultural capital varies greatly among AAPIs On The Horizon: Emerging Aapi Issues in U.S Education 26 Selective College Admissions and Affirmative Action Cultural Competency and Mentorship The World Is Shrinking Conclusion And Recommendations 30 A Renewed Public Vision From Vision to Action Endnotes 33 Appendix: Data Source and Methodology 35 iii Preface The National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE), consisting of a national commission, an advisory board, and a research team at New York University, aims to engage realistic and actionable discussions about the mobility and educational opportunities for AAPIs and how distinctions of race, ethnicity, language, and other cultural factors play out in the day-to-day operations of American schools throughout the educational spectrum In particular, this project provides needed new data on key issues and trends for the access and participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in U.S higher education This report is founded on the simple premise that edu- competitive and global environment and advance the cational policies and practices must be based on fact, principles of equality and justice not fiction, if they are to be of value to teachers, students, parents, and society as a whole The report In addition to the collaborative effort of our national focuses on three pervasive and core fictions about the commission, advisory board, and working group, there Asian American and Pacific Islander community, are other individuals who played integral roles in the which are examined in the context of empirical data In production of this report Our thanks to Frank Tang, addition, three issues of emerging importance are pre- New York University; Jamie Lew, Rutgers University- sented to highlight new conversations that are surfac- Newark; Vanessa Leung, Coalition for Asian American ing among educators on college campuses Facts, Not Children and Families; Tara Parker, University of Fiction: Setting the Record Straight serves as a source of Massachusetts, Boston; and Kamilah Briscoe, New York consolidated information that will be valuable to University anyone interested in advocating for fair and better educational practices In particular, through the frame of advocacy and social justice, the report provides educators, policymakers, students and their families, and advocates with accurate and up-to-date information, enabling them to critically examine the extent to which their schools meet the demands of an increasingly v Introduction In 1903, at the dawn of the twentieth century, W.E.B Du Bois opened his classic work, The Souls of Black Folk, by posing the question, “How does it feel to be a problem?” He then argued, with impassioned and incontrovertible reasoning, that African Americans are viewed as though they are the cause of racial distress in their own lives and in the society at large When Du Bois analyzed the consequences of classifying an entire people as a problem, he identified core suppositions, which he described as “dangerous half-truths,” including “that the prime cause of the Negro’s failure to rise more quickly is his wrong education in the past; and… that his future rise depends primarily on his own efforts.” In other words, Black people could be defined and dismissed as a problem because of their poor education, which could be improved only through their individual efforts— as though discrimination, prejudice, poor or no educational opportunities, and other structural factors had nothing to with “the problem.” Today, as we journey through a new century, Asian and stripping citizenship from those who had already American and Pacific Islander students face a similar become American citizens question that comes with a twist: “How does it feel to be • The 1924 Immigration Act forbade Asians from a solution?” This question is a corollary to a fundamen- entering the United States and sharply limited entry tal stereotype: the “model minority,” which is how Asian for Eastern and Southern Europeans Americans and Pacific Islanders have come to be defined • A total of 120,000 Japanese Americans, 64 percent of in contemporary America—the “good” minority that whom were American-born citizens, were impris- seeks advancement through quiet diligence in study and oned for the duration of World War II as suspected work and by not making waves; the minority that other “enemy aliens.” American minorities should seek to emulate Even after being acknowledged as the “model minorThe term model minority was coined in 1966, at the ity,” Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders continued height of the Civil Rights Movement Before describ- to face hardships in U.S society: in the aftermath of the ing this stereotype, it is important to place the term in Cold War and conflicts in Vietnam and the Middle a larger historical context Records show that before East, many Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnic the 1960s, many Asian Americans and Pacific Island- groups have been castigated as enemies, aliens, spies, ers were treated as undesirable and “unassimilable” and terrorists, and subjected to special reporting aliens, and were sometimes targeted by both vigilante requirements, incarceration, and deportation lynch mobs and federal, state, and local laws The following are examples of this discrimination: Arguably, the transition to seeing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as the “model minority” in 1966 • The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 turned Chinese worked not to celebrate Asian Americans and Pacific Americans into the first “illegal aliens,” barring Islanders, but to reinforce how Black Americans were them from ever becoming naturalized Americans, still “the problem” that Du Bois had so eloquently Introduction • argued against As the December 1966 article in U.S vidual student, systemic issues—such as what gets News & World Report put bluntly: “At a time when taught, how resources are allocated, and who gets left Americans are awash in worry over the plight of racial behind—become secondary minorities, one such minority is winning wealth and respect by dint of its own hard work—not from a welfare check.”4 Even after being acknowledged as the “model minority,” Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders continued to face hardships in U.S society When the “problem” and “solution” fall entirely on the individual student, systemic issues—such as what gets taught, how Lumping All-Into-One Such generalizations of the resources are allocated, and who gets left “problem” or “solution” defy reason Under the “model behind—become secondary minority solution,” Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are all lumped together as if they have the same traits: that they are all high-performing achiev- How Does It Feel to Be a Solution? For students and ers Indeed, there are exceptional Asian Americans and parents, educators, and policymakers who struggle Pacific Islanders who are extremely accomplished, and with the widening disparities in K–12 preparation and they are a source of pride and inspiration But it is higher education in a demanding global society, it is simply not true that they are typical Moreover, this tempting to look for simplistic models of success For report will show how there is no such thing as an Asian many educators, as well as for the public at large, Asian American and Pacific Islander composite, especially American and Pacific Islander students have often when there are more differences than similarities become that simplistic model—the high-achieving between the many peoples designated by the federally minority, who proves that with hard work any student defined categories of “Asian American” and/or “Pacific can accomplish anything, and those who don’t have Islander.” While there are varied and historical reasons only themselves to blame For example, as recently as for reporting this group under one umbrella in certain May 2006, a New York Times column entitled “The instances, it is critical for educators and policymakers Model Students” declared that “stellar academic to recognize that individuals who comprise this group achievement has an Asian face” and that others would occupy positions along the full range of the socioeco- be “fools” not to learn from these “perfect” students nomic spectrum, from the poor and underprivileged to Using Asian Americans in this argument becomes a the affluent and highly skilled There is no simple way of critiquing other groups without having to men- description that can characterize Asian American and tion the “bad students” directly Just as the responsibil- Pacific Islander students or communities as a whole ity for inequality shifted to African Americans when they became “the problem,” the responsibility for educational success shifts away from the schools and toward the individual student when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are called “the solution.” When the “problem” and “solution” fall entirely on the indi- • Introduction Among the most economically disadvantaged are Cambodian, Hmong, and Laotian war refugees from the rural regions of Southeast Asia, many of whom struggle with long-term poverty, language and literacy issues, and post-traumatic stress disorders associated with their forced migration In addition, Native Hawai’ians and Pacific Islanders of Hawai’i, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands have had to contend with issues of governance and self-determination stemming from years of colonization This history has created a complex situation that impacts their ability to access federal programs and services For example, Pacific Islander students from the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republics of Palau and the Marshall Islands may not be eligible for some forms of federal educational assistance because of their governments’ intricate political relationships with the United States The bimodal distribution of socioeconomic status within the AAPI community is often further exaggerated by residential patterns of different ethnic populations, particularly for ethnic groups that are residentially concentrated In other words, while AAPIs generally are concentrated in a few states, with 65 percent of all AAPIs living in five states: California, New York, Hawai’i, Texas, and Illinois, different ethnic groups often cluster in ethnic enclaves throughout the U.S in communities that may be urban, suburban or rural (see Figure 14) Data collected from such ethnic enclaves show wide variations in assets and needs (Table 2a and 2b) For example, over 60 percent of 18- to 64-year-old Chinese in Brooklyn, NY, Vietnamese in Westminster, CA, and Hmong in St Paul, MN report speaking English “less than very well.” In terms of household income for Pacific Islanders in 1999, Samoans in Carson, CA earned, on average, over $15,000 more than Native Hawai’ians in Makaha, HI and Wai’anae, HI Chinese in Brooklyn and Hmong in St Paul have considerably higher rates of families with children under 18 below poverty at 30.5 and 33.4 percents, which is approximately three times the national average 22 • Fiction #3 Figure 14: AAPI Ethnic Enclaves in the United States, 2000 AK Jersey City St Paul Hmong represent 66.6% of all AAPIs (n = 25,052) DuPage County Indians represent 42.6% of all AAPIs (n = 31,077) WA MT OR Filipinos represent 40.1% of all AAPIs (n = 16,015) ND ID WY NV CA MI PA IL OK NM TX Las Vegas HI Filipinos (41.2%) and Pacific Islanders (15.9%) represent 57.1% of all AAPIs (n =11,980) IN OH WV MO KY NJ DE MD VA DC NC TN AR SC MS Chinese represent 65.8% of all AAPIs (n = 53,701) NH MA CT RI NY IA CO Alhambra and Monterey Park VT WI KS AZ MI SD NE UT ME MN AL GA LA Jacksonville FL Filipinos represent 45.8% of all AAPIs (n = 10,110) Houston Vietnamese represent 30.4% of all AAPIs (n = 33,067) PR AAPI Persons 2,771–11,889 15,189–25.116 29,744–54.758 56.662–95,213 101,350–238,124 261,025–3,697,513 Source: U.S Census Bureau, Summary File 1, Matrix P7, 2000 Fiction #3 • 23 TABLE 2a: Characteristics of Asian Americans Living in Selected Ethnic Enclaves, 2000 Primary Asian American Ethnic Group Total Number of Primary Asian American Ethnic Group Total Number of Asian Americans (Any Ethnicity) Percent of Asian Americans Represented by Primary AAPI Ethnic Group Percent of Total Population Represented by Asian Americans Nativity and Source of Residents Percent of Native-Born Asian Americans Percent of Foreign-Born Asian Americans English-Language Ability Percent of Asian Americans to 17 Who Speak English Less Than Very Well Percent of Asian Americans 18 to 64 Who Speak English Less Than Very Well Educational Attainment Percent of Asian Americans Adults with Less than High School Percent of Asian Americans Adults with High School Completion Percent of Asian Americans Adults with Some College or Associates Degree Percent of Asian Americans Adults with Bachelor’s Degree or More Income and Poverty Status Median Household Income of Asian Americans in 1999 Percent of Asian Families with Children Under 18 Years of Age Below Poverty Household Characteristics Average Family Size Among Asian Americans Percent of Asian American Households with Children Under 18 Years of Age Percent of Asian American Households with or More Persons Average Household Size Among Asian Americans Yuba City, California Brooklyn, New York Asian Indian Chinese Vietnamese Hmong Filipino 2,636 125,358 27,887 26,509 17,429 3,967 212,207 35,478 39,927 26,458 66.5% 59.6% 78.5% 67.0% 67.6% 10.8% 8.2% 38.6% 13.4% 6.0% 23.1% 23.2% 76.8% 40.6% 24.9% 75.1% 40.5% 38.1% 61.9% 52.4% 32.4% 67.6% 9.1% 44.8% 63.5% 67.2% 60.9% 30.8% 38.4% 42.9% 36.0% 47.4% 15.8% 18.1% 20.8% 18.5% 18.0% 18.2% 21.2% 12.8% 26.4% 17.4% 32.6% 22.3% 23.5% 19.1% 17.2% 33.4% $35,331 $35,275 $44,395 $32,149 $52,526 10.9% 30.5% 20.5% 33.4% 9.8% 3.87 3.95 4.21 5.61 3.59 59.7% 53.4% 53.4% 78.8% 53.4% 11.3% 13.3% 21.8% 39.1% 8.4% 3.78 4.05 4.35 6.15 3.54 33.3% 66.7% Westminster, St Paul, Virginia Beach, California Minnesota Virginia Note: The data on Asian Americans excludes Pacific Islanders Sources: U.S Bureau of Census, Summary File 1, 2000—100-Percent Data; Summary File 3—Sample Data, 2000 24 • Fiction #3 TABLE 2b: Characteristics of Pacific Islanders Living in Selected Ethnic Enclaves, 2000 Carson, California Makaha, Hawai’i Wai’anae, Hawai’i Samoan Native Hawai’ian Native Hawai’ian Total Number of Primary Pacific Islander Ethnic Group 2,284 1,415 2,514 Total Number of Pacific Islanders (Any Ethnicity) 2,777 1,779 2,972 Percent of Pacific Islanders Represented by Primary AAPI Ethnic Group 82.2% 79.5% 84.6% 3.1% 22.9% 28.3% Percent of Native-Born Pacific Islanders 89.0% 98.0% 96.5% Percent of Foreign-Born Pacific Islanders 11.0% 2.0% 3.5% Percent of Pacific Islanders to 17 Who Speak English Less Than Very Well 6.2% 5.0% 12.0% Percent of Pacific Islanders 18 to 64 Who Speak English Less Than Very Well 15.3% 4.5% 6.2% Percent Pacific Islanders Adults with Less than High School 27.0% 14.2% 17.7% Percent of Pacific Islanders Adults with High School Completion 31.1% 54.6% 60.8% Percent of Pacific Islanders Adults with Some College or Associates Degree 31.5% 22.0% 16.3% Percent of Pacific Islanders Adults with Bachelor’s Degree or More 10.5% 9.2% 5.3% $53,487 $38,015 $38,438 8.7% 12.0% 32.1% 5.78 4.11 4.74 Percent of Pacific Islander Households with Children Under 18 Years of Age 48.5% 38.4% 43.4% Percent of Pacific Islander Households with or More Persons 47.0% 16.9% 31.6% 6.07 3.71 4.51 Primary Pacific Islander Ethnic Group Percent of Total Population Represented by Pacific Islanders Nativity and Source of Residents English-Language Ability Educational Attainment Income and Poverty Status Median Household Income of Pacific Islanders in 1999 Percent of PI Families with Children Under 18 Years of Age Below Poverty Household Characteristics Average Family Size Among Pacific Islanders Average Household Size Among Pacific Islanders Note: The data on Pacific Islanders excludes Asian Americans Sources: U.S Bureau of Census, Summary File 1, 2000—100-Percent Data; Summary File 3—Sample Data, 2000 Pacific Islander students with colonization histories and Southeast Asian Americans with refugee histories have very different experiences and needs than other Asian American groups who have arrived in large numbers under employment preferences There are large concentrations of AAPI students that are often lost in the educational system or treated as delinquents Yet at the same time, policies based on the fiction of the “model minority” offer few, if any, programs or other resources for those students in need of special assistance Studies show that the inability of families to understand how to advocate for their children in the courts and school systems has led Asian American and Pacific Islander boys and girls who enter the juvenile justice system to have higher incarceration rates as juveniles than any other group, often with placement in adult facilities.18 By disaggregating the data on Asian American and Pacific Islander students, the range of educational and other characteristics becomes readily apparent, suggesting a similarly wide range in needs Fiction #3 • 25 On the Horizon: Emerging aapi Issues in U.S Education In addition to the aforementioned “Facts” that discuss significant issues affecting AAPI participation in higher education, there are also other important emerging issues in the field that are noteworthy In essence, these issues are hidden indicators—issues that often lack sufficient data to warrant attention or resources— that have considerable implications for policy, practice, and future research We include a brief discussion of these issues both to highlight preliminary evidence in the research community as well as anecdotes surfacing among educators and administrators on college campuses to encourage further conversations within the research, policy, and education communities Selective College Admissions and Affirmative Action Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have historically now been positioned as buffers, middlemen been excluded from discourse on affirmative action, equal in the cost-benefit analysis of wins and opportunity, and college admissions In recent years, how- losses in an affirmative action debate ever, especially following the rise in anti-affirmative action legal pursuits such as the U.S Supreme Court cases on Islanders have now been positioned as buffers, middle- affirmative action, we find an increase in rhetoric inclusive men in the cost-benefit analysis of wins and losses in an of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders For example, a affirmative action debate Legal scholars Frank Wu and recent study by scholars at an elite private university argues William Kidder explain that AAPIs have become that AAPIs are the “biggest winners” without affirmative “racial mascots” to camouflage an agenda that, if pre- action Specifically, they claim that without affirmative sented by Whites on their own behalf, would look too action at this university, AAPIs “would occupy four out of much like self-interest.21 Political analyst Claire Kim every five seats created by accepting fewer African Ameri- calls this “racial triangulation,” which in the case of can and Hispanic students.” Conversely, others have AAPIs, shifts public debate from the real issue at hand argued that practicing affirmative action doesn’t just hurt to the false issue of whether affirmative action pro- White students, it hurts Asians the most Ward Connerly, grams designed to benefit Blacks and Latinos unfairly architect of the California Civil Rights Initiative, asserted discriminate against AAPIs, as opposed to Whites.22 that increasing Black enrollment at highly selective public The idea that there are winners and losers in selective institutions in the UC system would require “kicking out” admissions is often oversimplified by popular media Asian students For example, following the end of affirmative action in 19 20 California, the media brought a lot of attention to the With the decline of Black and Latino students through- low representation of Blacks in the University of Cali- out selective colleges that not use race as criteria for fornia system Among the different perspectives of admissions decisions, AAPIs have also assumed the what has occurred in the past 10 years is the idea that identity of conspicuous adversaries of diversity in AAPIs are enjoying access to the UC system at the higher education by creating homogenous Asian- expense of low Black enrollment majority schools Thus, Asian Americans and Pacific 26 • On The Horizon Others have gone further and suggested that Whites A critical mass of AAPI faculty and lose to AAPIs in the admissions game without the use institutional leaders is essential to advocate of affirmative action An article in the Seattle Times and provide leadership for and about AAPI said, “The fact that the gains Asians have enjoyed students Unfortunately, they are too few seems to have come at the expense of Whites casts in number and not at the decision-making doubt on the theory that affirmative action hurts White tables of most institutions applicants It also suggests something that sounds counterintuitive—that, under affirmative action, when In reality, there are no winners in a postsecondary the competition was between Whites and Asians, it system that is experiencing a rapid decline in the number was the Asians who lost out and the Whites who ben- of African American and Latinos since the end of affir- efited.” The assertion that AAPIs are “outwhiting the mative action in a number of states Claiming Asian Whites” is not new This was precisely the focus of a American and Pacific Islander students have no prob- Newsweek article published in 1971 Legal scholar lems, they are models for others to emulate, and they are Jerry Kang, among others, argues that AAPIs are not “overrepresented,” works in the favor of educational and enjoying the same advantages in selective admissions political elites who make decisions Legal scholar Der- as Whites In fact, he posits that AAPIs face “negative rick Bell calls this claim “interest convergence.”28 Focus- action,” which is the systematic process treating Asian ing on AAPI students and their reputed success are Americans and Pacific Islanders differently in the excuses not to deal with the failure of our education admissions process than other applicants with similar system and the complex and interwoven nature of how qualifications race and racism operates in the United States 23 25 24 Specifically, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are held to a higher standard than Whites; the intended outcome of negative action being Cultural Competency and Mentorship It is quite ironic restrictive access of Asian Americans and Pacific that there can be so much focus on the high representa- Islanders and maximized access for Whites tion of AAPI college students in higher education, without questioning AAPI presence in other parts of the aca- Kidder has tested negative action in the context of demic community Specifically, there is a lack of attention admissions decisions at five public law schools where to the issues related to Asian American and Pacific racial preferences were banned He found that with- Islander faculty, staff, and administrators A critical mass out affirmative action, the share of Asian American of AAPI faculty and institutional leaders is essential to and Pacific Islander enrollments dropped at two of the advocate and provide leadership for and about AAPI stu- law schools and increased only marginally at three of dents Unfortunately, they are too few in number and not the schools despite the popular belief that Asian Amer- at the decision-making tables of most institutions Sur- icans and Pacific Islanders would significantly benefit veys of all two- and four-year institutions reveal that the from the end of affirmative action These enrollment numbers of AAPI college presidents are at an extremely patterns were particularly surprising considering that low level AAPIs make up less than one percent of the col- during the time period studied, the percentage of Asian lege presidency in the United States, with only 33 in the Americans and Pacific Islanders applying to law school nation Moreover, Asian American and Pacific Islander increased 50 percent, so the pool, presumably, should women are the most underrepresented group in the ranks have created the opportunity for major increases of college presidents with only 13 women presidents in 26 27 On The Horizon • 27 the entire country compared to 768 White women, 87 anxiety, combined with the tremendous pressure that African American women, and 58 Hispanic women in students face generally during college.30 Stress and anxi- 2004.29 In addition, there are substantial questions related ety levels among AAPIs have been found to be correlated to the race and gender data for full-time faculty in higher with student perceptions of negative campus climate and education, particularly in the Social Sciences high depression levels, even after controlling for students’ entering proclivities toward depression and varying insti- Reports suggest that few Asian Americans and Pacific tutional types.31 On Web sites, chat rooms, and in public Islanders are currently working toward the advanced forums, Asian American and Pacific Islander students degrees that might lead to administrative and executive openly and routinely discuss the extreme pressure and positions in higher education; the perceived lack of career demands by their parents to achieve academically and to opportunities and the low numbers of Asian Americans enter disciplines that they perceive to be secure (for exam- and Pacific Islanders at senior executive levels may con- ple, STEM, Pre-Medicine, Business) even if the students tribute to this situation As such, it is important to engage lack aptitude, interest or both.32 more leaders in education who understand and support these significant issues, who are aware of the issues that The rates of depression, stress, and poor self-efficacy impact Asian American and Pacific Islander students, among AAPI college students should be considered in and who can help to bring more Asian American and the context of the reports of unexplained deaths and Pacific Islander educators and policymakers into such suicides by AAPI undergraduates In fact, the suicide positions of leadership This, of course, is vital at all stages rates of AAPIs have reached alarming levels at some of the educational pipeline; without AAPI role models schools, which are far disproportionate to their per- and mentors at every level of a student’s school experi- centages of enrollment At an elite private university, ence, from elementary through postsecondary education, for example, the overall student suicide rate has mir- it will be difficult to effectively train and encourage rored the national average, but 13 out of the 21 student tomorrow’s leaders suicide victims since 1996 were Asian or Asian American, while at an elite public university, deaths of Asian- There is also growing evidence of a need for culturally descent students rose from 13 percent of all student sensitive mental health services in higher education deaths between 1990 and 1995 to 46 percent in 2000.33 Asian American and Pacific Islander children in educa- In response, the elite private institution mentioned tional systems are often viewed as “models” with no chal- above established a mental health-oriented Asian and lenges or problems that may require institutional atten- Asian American Campus Climate Task Force in 2002 tion or resources This fiction has serious and sometimes tragic repercussions In many cases, heavy expectations There is a critical need for Asian American and Pacific are placed on AAPI students to be the “model minority,” Islander psychologists and counselors, to help bring with documented mental health implications A few attention to the needs of AAPI students who may be studies of students at highly selective four-year institu- under unique pressure to meet high expectations of tions in particular show that Asian American and Pacific parents by succeeding in such traditionally predeter- Islander students exhibit the lowest self-efficacy and self- mined careers as medicine and engineering Unfortu- esteem of any student group These patterns may be nately, research into this phenomenon is rare, making linked to achievement stress and academic performance it difficult to ascertain precisely the extent and severity 28 • On The Horizon of this issue As Eliza Noh observed, “There are really tries, other cultures, and the international dimensions no actual research studies No control, no observation, of issues critical to the lives of all Americans.”35 no research design [Yet] across the board you see people feeling pressured and are consciously aware of Schools, colleges, and universities with a serious eye the model minority myth which pushes them.” toward preparing our students for the globalized soci- 34 ety of the future must understand the need to dramati- The World Is Shrinking With national debates on cally upgrade and refashion their curricula, faculty immigration policies at an all-time high, there is a real structures, and resources to include a diversified com- need to reduce misunderstandings and tensions related to munity that can transfer on knowledge about the changing demographics in our educational system people, cultures, and histories of the Asia/Pacific, Afri- Immigrants bring a wealth of linguistic, cultural, and can, and Latin American regions, in addition to those historical abilities and insights We must create learning of European origin By breaking through the fictions communities that utilize these assets and foster cross- that cloud our educational policies and visions, we can cultural communication, cultural literacy, and exchanges look forward together to the kind of educational sys- Doing so will enrich all and can move us toward reducing tems and educated society that we as Americans are divisions in our schools and our society capable of achieving The transformation of societies as a result of globalization and worldwide population changes calls for a concurrent transformation of U.S education “How well this country will fare in the new urban and new global reality will no longer depend on American political influence, military might, or capacity to expand economic productivity” observes Professor Luis MartínezFernández, Director of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino studies at the University of Central Florida “Instead, leaders of American institutions and business organizations will need to acquire, develop, and master international cultural fluency.” Technical and professional expertise of another language is not enough The finance-oriented Committee for Economic Development has issued Education For Global Leadership, a study on “The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S Economic and National Security” clearly stating, “the educated American of the twenty-first century will need to be conversant with at least one language in addition to his or her native language, and knowledgeable about other coun- On The Horizon • 29 Conclusion and Recommendations A Renewed Public Vision • Asian American and Pacific Islander students enroll most heavily in their local public two-year and four- Unless educators and advocates dispel and replace the year institutions myths about Asian American and Pacific Islander stu- • Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders constitute a dents or other groups, both higher education and soci- group characterized by a variety of ethnicities and ety as a whole will miss fully developing and engaging cultural backgrounds these students, who have much to contribute to our schools and our communities In this report, we have Were these facts driving our educational practices, we examined both data and stories that encourage us to would have: develop a renewed public vision for implementing policies and practices based on facts about Asian American and Pacific Islander students • data collection and reporting mechanisms that tell us more about who comes to our campuses, including ethnicity, generational status, language spoken First, we need to dispel the fictions and myths that Asian American and Pacific Islander students are: at home, and other diagnostic evidence; • systems and mechanisms to improve the tracking and delivery of programs and services for AAPI • taking over institutions of higher education, espe- students, such as academic advisement, mental cially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and health services, career placement, and to monitor Math (STEM); outcomes informed by disaggregated data; • concentrated in elite higher education and are outperforming all other groups; • all high-achieving “model minorities”; and • a homogenous mass that can be dealt with as a whole • faculty, administration, and academic support staff who are educated and skilled in teaching and supporting the specific cultural and ethnic backgrounds of their Asian American and Pacific Islander students; and We then need to replace those fictions with the facts • a proportional representation of AAPI educational about Asian American and Pacific Islander students in leaders, administrators, and faculty to serve as role higher education: models for Asian American and Pacific Islander students and to serve as subject matter experts for policy • Asian American and Pacific Islander students pursue development a broad range of academic fields of study • the growth in college attendance by Asian American These significant changes will not occur without pur- and Pacific Islander students parallels that of African poseful action by educators and educational advocates American and Hispanic students; however, there are These are key elements that we offer to bring about the a small number of states and institutions with high types of changes needed to better align educational concentrations of Asian American and Pacific policy and practice with today’s reality Islander students 30 • Conclusion From Vision to Action • hiring Asian American and Pacific Islander staff, consultants, community leaders, and scholarly Actionable Research Is Key Through relatively researchers to identify and guide work in education straightforward research, we can move beyond mis- at every level, on behalf of all groups, including leading and potentially harmful assumptions that have Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; dominated American thought about Asian American • seeking out Asian American and Pacific Islander and Pacific Islander participation in education We community leaders to enhance the cultural capacity must develop methods to critically and effectively study of our institutions and improve student outcomes; what is truly happening to our young people—both in and formalized education and informally in the culture at • building relationships between federal, state and large—rejecting what is fiction and embracing what is local institutions, community-based organizations, fact This suggests a combination of both quantitative and affected communities and qualitative evaluation research, which includes: Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that AAPI college stu- • collecting data in a way that allows for further dents are becoming more aware of the importance of deconstruction of the variation within the AAPI holding leadership positions Using data from “the racial category (by ethnicity, nationality, etc.); nation’s largest and oldest study of college students,” the • changing data reporting and analysis approaches by 2007 UCLA report Beyond Myths: The Growth and Diver- disaggregating data by ethnicity and other impor- sity of Asian American College Freshmen, 1971–2005, tant background factors; incorporating focus groups notes that the “percentage of Asian American freshmen and other qualitative methods to develop our knowl- reporting that becoming a community leader is ‘very edge about ethnic differences within AAPI commu- important’ or ‘essential’” has more than doubled from 13 nities; and percent in 1971 to 32.3 percent in 2005.36 • changing from a narrow set of evaluative indicators (test scores, high school grades, etc.) to a broader set The results of effective collaborations will impact both that includes such indicators as first language and K–12 and higher education in positive ways immigrant generational status in predicting educational outcome, not only for use in admissions prac- K–12 E d u catio n tices, but for student services, outreach, and developing new institutional initiatives ◆ School counselors will be aware of cultural backgrounds of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Acting Collectively Is Key In order to address the students for whom they are responsible, resulting in realities of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders—as targeted support for at-risk students as well as mean- well as other minority student groups—we need to ingful involvement and participation by parents build an inclusive coalition of educators, policymakers, with little or no formal U.S education philanthropists, advocates, and community leaders ◆ More school level teachers will be trained to educate who will challenge institutional barriers and system- English Language Learners, thus raising the quality atic misrepresentation of Asian Americans and Pacific of schools across the spectrum, and the potential for Islanders and other peoples, by: student success in college Conclusion • 31 ◆ Asian American and Pacific Islander students will be encouraged to pursue careers as educators and administrators at the K–12 level to increase the number of mentors and role models for AAPI youth ◆ More schools will be able to provide curricula that reflects Asian American and Pacific Islander histories, art, literature, and culture, which will benefit all students by increasing their ability to participate at the college level, where multicultural competence is expected H i g he r E d u catio n • Colleges with better information about the challenges faced by AAPI students will be able to attract this group of students through better information dissemination and more effective outreach • Colleges can more equitably support low-income Asian American and Pacific Islander students who have real financial need that may have been overlooked under old models • Retention of Asian American and Pacific Islander students will improve because increased role models—faculty, staff, and administrators—will be present to interact and develop relationships with them • Asian American and Pacific Islander student selfesteem and self-efficacy will improve over time because colleges will better understand and meet the needs of these, including effective communications with parents with little or no formal U.S education • The participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in civic roles will increase because more role models will be visible in positions of leadership on campus 32 • Conclusion Additional Resources This report is just one aspect of the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education We encourage educators, advocates, and scholars to go to the project Web site located at: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/care/ for additional resources, including an extensive annotated bibliography, a list of activities by the commission related to the project, and other papers that examine key issues and trends related to AAPIs in education Endnotes Du Bois, W E B (2003) The Souls of Black Folk New York: Barnes & Noble Classics (Original work published 1903), p 46 Thurgood, L., Golloday, M., & Hill, S (2006) U.S Doctorates in the 20th Century Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation 12 U.S Government Accountability Office (2007) Information Sharing Could Help Institutions Identify and Address Challenges that Some Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Students Face (GAO-07-925) Washington, DC 13 Prashad, V (2000) The Karma of Brown Folk Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press Zia, H (2001) Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 14 Success Story of One Minority Group in the U.S (1996, December 1966) U.S News & World Report 15 Omi, M., & Winant, H (1994) Racial formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s New York: Routledge Olsen, Ibid Lee, S J., & Kumashiro, K.K (2005) A Report on the Status of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Education: Beyond the “Model Minority” Stereotype Washington, DC: National Education Association of the United States 16 Kristof, N.D (2006, May 14) The Model Students The New York Times Olsen, L (1997) An Invisible Crisis: The Educational Needs of Asian Pacific American Youth New York: Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy Kim, H (1997) Diversity Among Asian American High School Students Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service Um, K (2003) A Dream Denied: Educational Experiences of Southeast Asian American Youth: Issues and Recommendations Washington, D.C.: Southeast Asia Resource Action Center Kanaiaupuni, S M., & Ishibashi, K (2003) Left Behind: The Status of Hawai’ian Students in Hawai’i Public Schools Honolulu, HI: Kamehameha Schools Chang, M.J., Park, J.J., Lin, M.H., Poon, O.A., & Nakanishi, D.T (2007) Beyond Myths: The Growth and Diversity of Asian American College Freshmen, 1971-2005, p 11 17 The Services and Advocacy for Asian Youth (SAAY) Consortium (2004) Moving Beyond Exclusion: Focusing on the Needs of Asian/Pacific Islander Youth in San Francisco San Francisco 18 Espenshade, T., & Chung, C.Y (2005) The Opportunity Cost of Admission Preferences at Elite Universities Social Science Quarterly 86(2), 293-305 19 Ling, M (1998, December) Facing the Asian Invasion California Monthly Connerly, Ward (2006, November 3) Ward Connerly: We’re Saying Race Should Not Be Used The Oakland Tribune 20 10 Egan, T (2007, January 7) Little Asia on the Hill The New York Times 11 Wu, F.H., & Kidder, W (2006, October 5) Asian Americans Aren’t White Folks’ “Racial Mascots.” Diverse Online Retrieved from: www.diverseonline.com 21 Kim, C (1999) The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans Politics and Society 27(1), 105-40 22 Endnotes • 33 Naverrette, R.J (2007, January 1) Ward Connerly: Standing on Principles, Not a Mission The Seattle Times 23 Noh, E.S (2002) Suicide Among Asian American Women: Influences of Racism and Sexism on Suicide Subjectification (Doctoral Dissertation, University of California: Berkeley, 2002) 34 Outwhiting the Whites (1971, June 21) Newsweek 24 Research and Policy Committee of the Committee for Economic Development (2006) Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S Economic and National Security Washington, DC: Committee for Economic Development, p 35 Kang, J (1996) Negative Action Against Asian Americans: The Internal Instability of Dworkin’s Defense of Affirmative Action Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review (CR-CL) 31, 1-47 25 Kidder, W.C (2006) Negative Action Versus Affirmative Action: Asian Pacific Americans Are Still Caught in the Crossfire Michigan Journal of Race and Law 605(11), 605-24 26 Kidder, W.C (2000) Situating Asian Pacific Americans in the Law School Affirmative Action Debate: Empirical Facts About Thernstrom’s Rhetorical Acts Asian Law Journal 7, 29-68 27 Bell, D.A (1980) Brown v Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilemma Harvard Law Review, 93(3), 518-33 28 Harvey, W.B., & Anderson, E.L (2005) Minorities in Higher Education: Twenty-First Annual Status Report: 2003-2004 Washington, DC: American Council on Education 29 Gloria, A M., & Ho, T.A (2003) Environmental, Social, and Psychological Experiences of Asian American Undergraduates: Examining Issues of Academic Persistence Journal of Counseling and Development 81(1), 93-105 30 Cress, C M., & E.K Ikeda (2003) Distress Under Duress: The Relationship Between Campus Climate and Depression in Asian American College Students NASPA Journal 40(2), 74-97 31 Ibid 32 Ramanujan, K (2006, April 19) Health Expert Explains Asian and Asian American Students’ Unique Pressures to Succeed Cornell Chronicle Online 33 34 • Endnotes Chang, et al., Ibid 36 Appendix: Data Source and Methodology The data analyses in this study relied on full-population data from secondary data sources Data for this study were drawn from four sources to identify trends in student participation, institutional enrollment, degree attainment, and to examine demographic distinctions among the AAPI community In order to examine U.S demographic trends among ondary institutions with Title IV status, which resulted the AAPI population, we examined data from the U.S in a total institutional sample of approximately 4,200 Bureau of Census 100 percent file We mainly relied on postsecondary institutions the use of two particular data sets: Summary File and Summary File from 1990 and 2000 These data were Two additional secondary data sources were utilized to used to examine demographic trends among AAPIs a lesser extent First, we examined data from the Amer- nationally, across states, and within local communi- ican Council on Education (ACE), Corporate Data ties Summary File contains information collected System for 2003, which contained descriptive informa- from all people and housing units for the United States, tion on postsecondary faculty and administrators by including the 50 states and the District of Columbia, race, gender, and institutional type Second, we exam- and contains information on detailed race, ethnicity, ined descriptive data from College-Bound Seniors: A and Hispanic categories Summary File was used to Profile of SAT Program Test-Takers, which contained capture more in-depth population and housing infor- information about students that participated in the mation on a sample basis from the Census long form, SAT Program in 2003 including selected characteristics on populations that vary by race, ethnicity, and Hispanic origin To examine trends in higher education participation and completion, we utilized data from the U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Analyses of these data were conducted across different higher education sectors that varied by type (two-year versus four-year), control (public versus private), and locale (national, regional, and state) Trend analyses focused on year-over-year changes between 1980 and 2000 In some cases, data were available for up to 2003, which was the latest year available that was clean and reliable during the time of the data analyses according to the data sources For all postsecondary data, we limited the analyses to postsec- Appendix • 35 w w w n y u e d u/ p r o j e c t s /c a r e